Racing With Haley: Trump The Rusical

Hey kitty girls! This week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race combined my two favorite things, politics and drag! This rusical did not disappoint! Here’s all the tea on this week’s episode!

Honey Davenport had just been eliminated after a herstorical six-queen lip sync! The queens were truly shook by that twist. Shuga Cain had a breakdown thinking she was going to be eliminated and all the queens took it as a wake up call.

New day, same hello, hello, hello from RuPaul. The queens had to participate in the best mini challenge, Why You Mad-dow?, an amazing play on Rachel Maddow’s name. She even gave the queens a cute little video to inspire them. The queens had to break news, but Mercedes Iman Diamond took the time to tell us she doesn’t have Rachel Maddow where she’s from but she does have a goat! It was super fun watching this queens try to read a teleprompter. Vanessa ‘Vanjie’ Mateo just gave up completely but somehow was the most hilarious one, as always. It was very hard to pick a winner since they were all terrible, but Scarlet Envy came out on top. Ru dropped the bomb that the queens would be doing Trump, the Rusical. The queens would each play a woman in Trump’s life and Scarlet got to give out the roles since she won the mini challenge.

The queens got together and decided to run through the script before assigning roles. Scarlet took Betsy DeVos, Mercedes volunteered to take the biggest role, Shandy, but in the end the role went to Ariel Versace. Omarosa went to Ra’Jah O’Hara, Kellyanne Conway was Yvie Oddly, of course. Mercedes ended up as Ivanka Trump, Silky Nutmeg Ganache was Oprah, Nina West was a brilliant Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Brooke Lynn Hytes was Ivanna Trump, Shuga Cain was Hillary Clinton, A’Keria Davenport took Stormy Daniels, Vanjie had Rosie O’Donnell, and Plastique Tiara was Melania Trump.

When Ru came into the workroom and talked to the girls and found out Silky was a registered Republican. Apparently, she has some theory that she can infiltrate the Republican party to avoid gerrymandering. As a Political Science major, that concept gave me anxiety. But more power to you, I guess. Nina West shared that she went to the Republican National Convention at 12 years old and was the president of the Young Republican Club. Now, of course, she is progressive, but I love hearing these incredible background stories the queens have.

The queens hit the stage to learn their choreography. Brooke Lynn got to show off her ballet background. Ra’Jah, who also has a background in dance, really struggled with the choreography. Turns out, she was a dancer 15 years ago. Scarlet Envy was also fun to watch but in the ‘this is terrible I should probably look away’ way. Ariel couldn’t keep up, which was stressful because she had the main role!

It was time to get into drag and watch Silky use Sharpie for her eyebrows. Nina West opened up about the harrass she endured while running for student government as an openly gay man. She got real death threats around the time Matthew Shepard was murdered. It’s heartbreaking to know these issues still happen, especially in politics. Nina’s story and voice are so important, especially in this political climate. We love you, Nina! After Nina’s story, she pulled a few queens aside to talk about her religion. She apologized for not wanting to talk about her religion, and my heart broke for her. The reason she chose not to share information about her religion is because she didn’t want to be labeled as a terrorist. Between these two mirror moments, this may have been the most socially important episode of Drag Race.

On the main stage, Ru was joined by Ross Matthews, Michelle Visage, iconic legend Tiffany Pollard, and obnoxious straight man Joel McHale. The rusical kicked off and it was hilarious. I read some takes online from fans that it was a bit tone deaf, but I think it was great because there is nothing Trump hates more than being made fun of. Especially by a bunch of men in wigs! I was here for it. For a role that Silky didn’t want, she got the most praise from the judges, even before critiques started. After the performance, the queens hit the runway wearing their best orange looks. Tiffany’s runway commentary is something we should have every week. Shuga Cain’s Trump look was EVERYTHING. Almost as amazing as Trump not putting up with Joel’s obnoxious yelling.

It was time for critiques. Scarlet, Nina, Ariel, Plastique, Shuga, and A’Keria were pardoned, AKA safe. Scarlet got the nod from Ru for doing a great job casting. Yive, Silky, and Brooke Lynn got high praise for both their performances and looks. Only Brooke Lynn was praised for her Norwegia facial structure, though. Ra’Juh got negative critiques for playing Omarosa too nice, while Mercedes got praised highly for her look and negative critiques for disappearing in the performance. Vanjie fell in the background this week and Tiffany did not want to sit on her face like she wants to do to the real Rosie O’Donnell.

This week’s win went to Silky, while Ra’Jah and Mercedes fell into the bottom two and had to lipsync to Living in America by James Brown. Ra’Jah brought more energy to the performance, while Mercedes costume seemed to get in her way. I loved watching the judges go wild to this song. It was my favorite part for sure. Although she lost her wig, Ra’Jah got to stay, while Mercedes sashayed away. I loved Mercedes parting words about showing the world Muslim does not mean terrorist. We will miss her each week!What did you guys think of this week’s episode? Let us know in the comments below. I’ll see you guys next week as the queens throw a monster ball with guest judge ELVIRA! I cannot wait!

One small brushfire away from completing the Serial Killer Triad, Haley is a hell-raising college student and sports journalist. Calling the suburbs of the gayest city in America home, she's sure to bring it to you every ball.